St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino has been named one of the four finalists for the Naismith National Coach of the Year award, which the NCAA announced on Monday.
The 72-year-old Hall of Famer saw his Red Storm’s magical season come to an end on Saturday when the No. 2 seed fell to No. 10 Arkansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Despite the early exit, Pitino — in just his second season at the Queens school — led St. John’s to one of its greatest seasons ever. A 31-5 season featured a program-best 18-2 record in Big East play. St. John’s won both the Big East regular season and Tournament championships for just the third time ever and the first time since 1986.
The outright conference regular-season title was the school’s first in 40 years, while the Big East Tournament crown was the first since 2000.
St. John’s ended the year ranked No. 5 in the Associated Press poll, which was its highest since Jan. 29, 1991.
The honors keep rolling in for Pitino, who was named the US Basketball Writers’ Association (USBWA) National Coach of the Year on Friday. He was also named the Big East Coach of the Year for the first time in his career, making him the second-ever coach to be named coach of the year in four different conferences.
The 2024-25 season also featured Pitino passing legendary coaches Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith on the all-time wins list. He now sits seventh all-time with 885.
The winner of the Naismith National Coach of the Year will be announced at the annual Naismith Awards Dinner on April 4 in San Antonio ahead of the Final Four. Pitino is joined by Houston’s Kelvin Sampson, Auburn’s Bruce Pearl, and Duke’s Jon Scheyer as finalists.
